I like researching my family’s past to understand better where I come originally from and just out of curiosity. But I hired a professional genealogist, who just sent me my genealogical tree. This is my maternal grandmother’s lineage, going back to the 17th Century. It proves what we always heard in the family: we are descendants of Jews. The mother of the guy at the very top was imprisoned by the Inquisition; she barely escaped being burned alive at the stake, the penalty given to her brother (my great... uncle) and their Jewish friends. This happened in February 1526 on the Canary Islands, and is very well documented.
February 28, 2019
February 27, 2019
Morgan +8 — Charlottenburg 356/365
Look at this photogenic guy! A phenomenal +8 from the late 1960s in perfect condition. I just couldn’t believe it I ran into this beautiful machine, whose skeleton (it’s well-known) is not made up of steel but of wood. Yes, all Morgans are built on a wooden frame. Even today.
February 26, 2019
Méjico — Burocracia española 355/365
Quieres hacer trámites con la burocracia española y la grafía de México es Méjico. En 2019. Y no, no se trata de la novela de Antonio Ortuño.
February 25, 2019
The solitude of the library — Stabi 354/365
Mexicans aren’t used to silence, not even in a library. At the Ibero, you have a coffee shop inside (!) the library. I once went with a friend to the ITESM’s library, asked her to lower her voice as we entered, just to listening her yelling around: “We are not in Germany, here you can be as loud as you want.” German libraries, on the other hand, are as quiet as a cemetery. And still, users wear earplugs. Many get a better concentration, but I’ve many times observed that it is a response to stress (Germans being super stressed people!).
February 24, 2019
My pen — Zehlendorf 353/365
I was recently talking to a friend about the advantages of writing by hand instead of using a keyboard. I still think better when I use my pen than the computer, but I’ve noticed that my script has become a disaster. I bought this one upon finishing my Ph.D. Montblanc was my first option but after checking them out, I was terribly disappointed by what they offer.
February 23, 2019
Chapo Trial — Berlin 352/365
Most of the news you hear in Germany about Mexico is drugs and crime. This guy is reading the story of el Chapo’s trial in NY. And I was wondering: if Mexico were a civilized country as Germany, would it still be interesting? At what extent? Or would it become boring?
February 22, 2019
Nicest house (2) — Zehlendorf 351/365
This mansion was built in 1893 and is dubbed Villa Bonnici (the name seems to be a wink to a historical building in Malta). I don’t know anything else about this property, but it strikes to me the imbalance of the house and the rather modest automobile that parks in the premises.
February 21, 2019
Asymmetry — Berlin 350/365
I have a problem with symmetric aesthetics, a reason why I am not interested in Wes Anderson movies or in blue lakes reflecting mountains under the blue sky. I was expecting to find a perfect symmetrical composition at the base of the TV Tower in Berlin, but I was surprised when I observed, for the very first time, that it is not. At the beginning I didn’t like it at all, but as time goes by, you learn to love it for reasons like this.
February 20, 2019
Nicest house (1) — Zehlendorf 349/365
I want to post my 3 favorite houses in the neighborhood. This is the best example I’ve seen of a carefully modernized Fachwerk or half-timber construction. The oldest surviving example goes back to Pompeii, but Germans have mastered and excelled in this technique.
February 19, 2019
Cigarette butts — Zehlendorf 348/365
You don’t expect to see this just outside your gym. I thought of the series made by Irving Penn of cigarette butts he found in the streets of New York, and more recently of the series of hyper realistic drawings made by @cj_hendry, one of my favorite artists (I’m looking forward to her upcoming podcast, BTW)! Thanks to art you can’t see things again as they are: garbage becomes inspiration.
February 18, 2019
First McDrive—Zehlendorf 347/365
This is the first McDonald’s in Germany that offered a McDrive service. People still remember queues a couple kilometers long to get a burger when it opened a few steps from the American embassy in the middle of the Cold War. I have heard similar stories regarding the first McDo in Mexico. So, what really surprises me is the fact that many people still eat this shit in 2019! Every time I pass by, I see customers.
February 17, 2019
Moss — Dahlem 346/365
If you want to see moss, go to Kyoto. I was amazed by the moss (may I say: culture?) they have. Now I know that Alexander vin Humboldt was an avid explorer of moss, as it encapsulates the basic forma of life. I hadn’t seen anything like this outside Japan, so I was amazed by discovering this tree in such a big city like Berlin.
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